Do You Make Over 20k a Month

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• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/173b8jh/do_you_make_over_20k_a_month

Highlights

• Government contracts change hands every few years, so when the contract that I was working on was close to being re-competed, I engaged other contractors who qualified to compete on this contract to partner together to win the work
• I worked as a project/product manager on a government contract for a few years prior, so I understood the client. I saw a lot of deficiencies with the current “off the shelf” software that they were using, so on my own time I started to personally develop software that addressed their needs in a way that “off the shelf” software couldn’t.
• I partnered with an 8(a) and we submitted a proposal and won the work.
• I am no sales guru or exemplary business man or entrepreneur, but I just happened to be in a situation where I knew the client and understood their needs more intimately than anyone else at the time, and just so happened to possess the skills to address those needs. I guess you can call it “right place at the right time” or just plain luck.
• Reading ‘Dont trust your gut’ - this is the way the majority of self-made millionaires today are made. They work for years in a field, build expertise, knowledge of problems and a network. Then they solve the problem when they’re 40yrs+. The idea of teen billionaires is romanticised by media attention, but is veeeerrry rare.
• as a software company, the way to make money is to develop an ecosystem where partners can make money too. That way your sales advocates are wider at no expense to you.
• Your looking for advice on reddit, if you want to find a market look for it in the same place. Facebook is private, reddit is public. I would choose your areas local reddit page and see what people are looking for. See if you can spot a theme or recurring question. See what people are complaining is expensive.
• I do something similar, one man consulting business, home office, wear a Uniqlo t shirt at “work” every day. 20k a month avg, the idea of expanding and hiring people sounds so stressful it’s not worth it. Gonna keep cruising
• I do educational consulting. Basically help rich kids get into college and grad school, focusing on T15 programs in the USA, with a few pro bono / discounted students each year so I can convince myself I’m making a difference
• They find me through referrals and word of mouth. I was tutoring like 5 AP subjects and creative writing in college, which was a pretty reputable Ivy League school, and just snowballed from there. Realized I like consulting a lot more than teaching / tutoring the same test prep material each year. I don’t do any active marketing, which is mostly a waste of resources in this niche in my opinion.
• Be genuine, don’t be afraid to “work” for free, if that work is menial. I’m not sure how that translates to a web development context though. A lot of my students come to me before they “need” me, and I just meet and do some consulting for them for free, like scheduling their classes or reviewing their resumes, before they sign up for college apps consulting in junior or senior year of high school. I don’t charge by the hour, and all my kids are on some sort of retainer fee structure for yearly contracts. I keep in touch with my kids and make an effort to hang out and befriend them as they transition into adults, and they come back for grad school application help, and refer their friends, relatives, etc. I’ve answered many many midnight calls and texts about relationship break ups, parents divorces, or other types of interpersonal conflicts. The job is as personal as it is professional when you’re working with kids, even if some of the kids are 18+, they’re still kids in my eyes. Also, pick your clients carefully, which kind of conflicts with the whole “work for free” advice. Some clients just aren’t a good fit.
  • Note: 这种模式需要长时间与人交往，转化为付费的客户时间会很长，但是会更忠诚。需要识别哪些人能被转化（或许是1年、3年）
• building relationships & establishing connections is very important
• It’s all word of mouth now, when I first started 10 years ago I just reached out to a lot of local high schools and reached out to their parent teacher associations and did free seminars and QAs. For the first 10 students I signed I told them I’d work with them for 6 months free. If they liked what I was doing, we can continue for 6 more months and they’d pay me a full year’s contract by the end of the 12 months. This was during the summer after my junior year of college, and I took on the 10 kids during my senior year. They all ended up paying me full tuition by the end :)
  • Note: 头一批种子用户免费，6个月后如果对我们的服务和产品满意，就付款 12 个月。
• I don’t do much marketing. But some of my newer customers have come from recruiters reaching out to me on linked in or some other method and me then calling someone I know in that organization to see what they need.
  • Note: Smart！当看到一些公司招聘信息时，主动联系这家公司认识的联系人，然后告诉对方自己可以做什么、对方需要什么。（跳过招聘人员）
• Residential. Small scale, additions, granny units, a few custom homes. Nothing fancy at all. Most architects are horrid business men and marketers. They are talented but the business acumen is severely lacking. It’s pretty easy to mop up in this industry with just basic knowledge / common sense.
• My 2 main ones are building an organic follower base on LinkedIn by posting relevant content to my target market. I’ve gotten 2 clients this way and even more sales calls. I also have a LinkedIn could outreach strategy I use.
• The biggest challenge is contact and sourcing. I spend the most time here looking through crunchbase at recently raised companies, how much, industry etc. I find director+ level people from that list of companies and put them into a spreadsheet. For each person, I take a look a their LI ad library to see if there are any significant mistakes, if I can find one, its an easy in via a message. For companies that have either competitor that I have worked with historically or are in an industry I have good knowledge in, I will name-drop the companies I work with and offer audits of their currently live campaigns. It’s a quality over quantity strategy. I only send 15-ish messages a week.
• You went for something “small” and nailed it.
• First few were in network people who I’ve worked with before at past jobs. They knew me and trusted my work. Pitch was actually quite easy with the trust the timing was the hard part. I actually had to turn down a lot of business that didn’t meet with my values for my time and what my team is worth. That was hard
• A lot of people today don’t only want to make money, they want to look good and sound good to their friends AND make good money.
• If you’re willing to do the stuff no one is willing to do that has great margins, there’s a lot of gaps in every sector/market that can become really profitable.
  • Note: 这是另一种策略。例如：
    • 做一个已经存在的产品；
    • 做正常人不愿意做的事。
• I have built an organic following on LI which really helps since my content is specific to my niche. I also have a LinkedIn cold outbound strategy that I really leverage as well. I myself am a specialist with hands-on keyboard on paid social, but I know wholistic account strategy for search and other channels.
• Are you automating these processes? You will need lots of leads because you are competing.
• free coaching never works, and I don’t coach for free.
• The problem with the Indian clients (most of them) is that they want good things at a very cheap price and quick as well. It’s almost very difficult to make money here unless you have a solid financial background. The good thing about foreign clients is the understanding, they understand the quality and trust.
• My 2 main ones are building an organic follower base on LinkedIn by posting relevant content to my target market. I’ve gotten 2 clients this way and even more sales calls.
• when I was prepping for my new venture I decided to take off a week of work and test it out. I researched what people were posting in local FB groups and realized they didn’t really get any attention so I carefully drafted a post that was personable and could make people relate by having a intro that didn’t immediately start with “Hey, I own a business. Call me”, but instead kept them engaged. I posted it to several local groups with the expectation that I wouldn’t get but maybe one or two potential customers. I ended up making around $6700 my first ever week. (Lucky, right?) they all said my post felt honest and like they could relate to it.
• IT consulting. Always above 100K, sometimes over 1M. Trying hard to always be above that.
• Employers pay you just enough to get you to trade your most valuable resource, time, for money. So many people are underpaid because they don’t know their worth.
• I’d say get out of that job. But don’t just switch your employer to yourself. Have a plan. Have some money. Go do what you know how to do and fix problems! I was almost broke until I stopped chasing money and went to work fixing problems. Then the money came. It was weird.
• Start doing it on the side. You can consult for just a few hours a week to begin.
• Don’t do hourly work- get contracts for a monthly recurring revenue.
• Number three, over time. This does take time. The reason the greatest boxers in the world are as good as they are is because they’ve thrown a lot of punches, over a long period of time. It’s not something you can rush. It’s the same when you try to accomplish greatness with anything.
• Note too there is almost no seed money needed. All you need initially is a computer. All expenses and hardware purchases are invoiced to the client and purchased upon receipt of payment.
• working for clients makes no sense, you can benefit from your own projects much more then whatever a client pays you, just need ot put that initial investment
• Finding clients is like that chicken and egg meme going around. Everyone wants to see your eggs, but you’ve yet to find a chicken.
• You must get out networking if you are in a large enough metropolis. Do one or two small jobs for free, but tell those people you need video reviews.
• Sales are easier if you only sell what people want or need. Don’t think you know, go ask your target market.
• My 2 main ones are building an organic follower base on LinkedIn by posting relevant content to my target market. I’ve gotten 2 clients this way and even more sales calls.
• I also have a LinkedIn could outreach strategy I use.
• Covid taught us valuable skills to keep the business running.
• Worth noting you’re talking SMB and he’s talking Enterprise. SMB is not where the money is in IT consulting.
• Depends how you define SMB. You’re not winning a 30 million dollar enterprise contract as a one man shop but you also couldn’t fulfill it as a one man shop, even if you did win it.
• Be realistic in your goals
• Enterprise IT. Specifically infrastructure modernization, disaster recovery planning, and more. We are doing a huge recovery operation right now that alone could cross 1M.
• Start off with small jobs and kept taking more chances with bigger projects.
• The ability to work without guidance, assistance, Google, fixing AD, Exchange, networks, etc. Migrate domains to the cloud or onprem without downtime. Build Linux/Unix LDAP domains. Provide disaster recovery planning. Run projects.
• The “secret” most failed businesses never understand. Pay your people very good and most of them will make you look like a god to the customer.
• Mainly our email list. We have a huge nurture list and constantly produce website articles and other content that we use as lead magnets to bring in new prospects. This took years to build. 100% of the work being done and the planned work came from email. We do call them regularly. Multitouch.
• Pay more compensation and don’t be afraid to hold people accountable. High expectations and standards, but treat everyone with respect. Give them opportunities for growth and development.
• Troubleshooting and asking great questions is great skills to have.
• Partner wasn’t fully committed, had a day job and was a mutual friend- bad move.
• All my business came from local face book groups and then referrals from that.
• I really feel like if I do start back up I want to separate myself with presentation on estimates— clean slideshow or maybe some clean brochures with a good, better, best package options.
• It was a lot of trial and error when it came to figuring out which marketing channel would work. What ended up working and “blowing up over night” was organic social media content. At first TikTok but then Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube followed suit.
• He told me to pick one thing and be good at it
• staying lean, keeping leverage low, constantly trying to diversify so sales are consistent, slowly stepping up into higher ticket items when the deal is stupid good, important to remember I am not forced to buy anything and being picky gives me a lot more leeway should their be issues or low demand.
• Consulting. Once you get to a certain point, you get paid for your opinion and rarely lift a finger.
• Profit is based on the problem and ability to execute with or without a team.
• Owned a few small companies and decided hiring other people to execute was a much better way to make money than to do it yourself.
• Hire a better driver. Hire a better pit crew. Hire a better motor manufacturer. Just own the microphone and the brand and you reap the rewards.
• Choosing a niche - wineries in my case - was critical to my success. Just pick a vertical that you are interested in and double down. Build your website and make it look like you are the absolute expert in marketing or web design for that vertical, even if you only have one or a few clients to begin with. Flesh out your portfolio as fast as you can and do work for cheaper initially to build up the portfolio. I can think of a ton of industries I could have done this with and so can you - breweries, distilleries and Boutique coffee growers also would have been fun options for me. Learn the software systems and nuances specific to that industry and really provide value to your customers by being a consultant and helping them choose their tech stack. Productize your services as much as possible and be transparent in pricing. Also, the less you charge per month, the less churn/attrition you will have. If you charge thousands per month to the customer they are going to expect a lot from you and you won’t be able to scale very easily. Whereas a lot of clients who I charge $150 monthly - it takes me a couple minutes a month to make sure their websites are updated and sound, and they have been clients for many years now. Hope this helps!
• Ongoing addition of alt tags to images for ADA compliance (important in the USA)
• Money is online. To make money you need to adapt. Everything is done online and if you don’t understand the online world, drop everything you are doing and start learning.
• If they are talking about it, your too late. All the ads you see on YouTube or Facebook are bullshit. You always need to go against the current and do something no one is talking about. Never follow the trend, you’ll end up nowhere. If people are talking about it, you stay as far away as possible. This includes every subject such as Crypto, dropshipping, etc. Only fools invest in that.
• Be obsessed or be average. Believe it or not, there aren’t many players in the game of money. Most players, some brighter then others, are incapable of reaching that “next level” . If you are too smart, it plays against you because you think too much of the outcome and the risk. If you are too dumb, you go in blind and fail. You need to be in between. Obsession and addiction to your craft is mandatory because things take time and you’ll fail a lot before you hit the jackpot.
• Sacrifice There’s no such thing as happy and rich. If it’s wealth you want, let go of “happiness”. You’ll constantly go through highs and lows. You end up getting used to it and won’t be able to live any other way. Being happy is for the employed suckers that play it safe or your wife/gf because you are a provider.
• Balance and Purpose I’ve met too many scumbags that start earning real paper and let it get to their heads. They have a wife/gf at home and start chasing every skank they see. They build an ego bigger then who they are. I’ve seen the nicest guys get money and turn to drugs, skanks and gambling because it makes them feel “cool”. These people are worthless and should never be trusted. They end up as failures and once they lose it all, they become the “Who I was, What I had,” . Stay loyal, stay true and stay focused.
• Small money is harder to make then big money If you ever reach the elite level, you’ll realize that making $5000 is so much harder then making $500 000. Money opens doors, opportunities. The more money you have to play with, the easier it becomes. Your entourage is different and you don’t need to put in as much work because instead of chasing opportunities, opportunities come to you, mainly due to entourage.
• Everyone gets lucky Luck isn’t as random as you may think. I believe everyone gets lucky at a certain point. Most of the time, you will look back and realize that a big part of your success is due to the time you got lucky. It’s not random. Sacrifice enough and it will eventually come to you.
• Life changed for me and I knew it was gonna happen it was a matter of time.
• . I work full-time for a small consultancy as a software engineer. Everyone says when you work for someone else you are selling them your time, but that’s a red herring argument. You are selling your ability to create products and/or provide services that they would not have been able to without you. If you know that and know how valuable that is, then you can make sure you get paid accordingly.
• Profit and margins are key.
• Automation and good workers have definitely been the key to success so far.
• focus on slow and steady growth, don’t be a fish that’s too big for your tank, it’ll make life hell.
• Speaking of money, while the financial aspect has been great, the real game-changer for me has been the time, freedom, and flexibility it has afforded me. I’ve always believed that true wealth isn’t just about the money but the quality of life it can provide. Being able to do more of what I love, on my terms, has brought a profound sense of happiness and peace into my life.
• 15 years ago they nearly lost everything but kept grinding and survived. It’s a volatile cutthroat industry at times but customer service is key.
• Today’s most successful brands don’t just sell products. They sell experiences.
• all experienced traders are calm and level headed and analytical
• MOST IMPORTANT – they act, dress, and behave like average Joe’s and USUALLY WILL NEVER EVER ADMIT that they are Traders.
• finding clients is the toughest part of it all imo, I’m not the greatest at sales. I’d say just tell everyone you know that you’re ready to do books, and they might know somebody, post about it on LinkedIn and other social media.
• cash helps fund side gig and gives me freedom to go high risk high reward on the side gig.
• It took me 3 month of intense learning, not 5 years of school, books and meditation. So don’t get into that bullshit if money is your only goal, you don’t need a degree you just gotta learn how to add value to businesses and solve rich peoples problems…. ANYONE can do it.
• I don’t write good fiction. But I do ads for it. It’s called best selling author, not best writing author!
• Yup myself! Nope not much time at all. Prob 5 min to enter info to publish now!
  • Note: Amazon KDP Publisher
• I sell mostly consumer electronics, but will trade in almost anything that is available at a good price. I avoid categories like clothing with high returns and too many variants (e.g., sizes)